Vladimir Putin still wants to take over most of Ukraine and the picture for the war remains “pretty grim,” the top US intelligence official said.
“We continue to be in a position where we look at President Putin and we think he has effectively the same political goals that we had previously, which is to say that he wants to take most of Ukraine,” Avril Haines, the US Director of National Intelligence, told a Commerce Department conference.
According to Ms Haines, the US intelligence agencies have drawn up three possible scenarios in the near future, the most likely outcome being a “grinding conflict” in which Russian forces will only make incremental gains, but no breakthrough in Ukraine.
The other scenarios include a major Russian breakthrough and Ukraine stabilising the frontlines while achieving small gains near the Russian-held city of Kherson and potentially other areas of southern Ukraine.
“In short, the picture remains pretty grim,” added Ms Haines.
